The Longest Way to Plan to Eventually Go on a Double Date
by haleyisafangirl
Summary: Sirius, Marlene, James, and Lily could quite possibly have the most dramatic, hysterical, insane double date of all time. But will it ever actually happen? Blackinnon and Jily.
1. Chapter 1

Ostensibly, it was just another Tuesday evening in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. There were rolls and ham on the table. A couple of Slytherin first-years were trying to place bets with the older students on who would win the upcoming Quidditch match. The Hufflepuff table was buzzing about one of the Macmillan brothers landing himself in detention. But at the Gryffindor table, things were far from normal.

"Is this really happening?" Marlene asked, trying in vain to turn the massive grin spreading across her face into a casual smirk. She looked down at her food in an effort not to giggle with delight.

Sirius had mastered the art of concealing his emotions a long time ago, so his arrogant, nonchalant expression was much better than Marlene's. "I believe so, McKinnon," he replied, snatching up another roll.

"But why the catch? Why does it have to be a _double_-date? And why are you just asking me out now, after all this time?"

Sirius cocked his head to the side. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he said coyly. Marlene rolled her eyes, shook her head, stood up, and walked away with as much composure as she could muster. Once she had rounded the corner, however, she burst into a run up the staircase.

She just had to tell Lily.

"Lily Marie Evans, if you are not out of the shower in the next thirty seconds I am going to burst in there and tell you anyway!"

"Marlene, please, I'm conditioni-ahhhh!" the redhead shrieked as the shower curtain started to slide back. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" she reassured the ever impatient blonde.

"You better be," Marlene yelled through the curtain, leaving it be. Lily quickly wrapped up her shower and covered herself in a towel. Marlene evidently had some incredibly important news to share.

"Y'know, Marlene, I really don't understand why you couldn't tell Mary or Dorcas or _any_ of the other girls in Gryffindor," Lily huffed, annoyed, as she rummaged for clothes in her trunk.

"_Because,_" Marlene said impatiently, "what if you didn't say yes?"

"Marlene, dear, what on earth are you talking about?"

The blonde took a deep breath in as a grin commanded control of her face. "Sirius asked me out!" The exclamation was more of a squeal than an actual sentence, but Lily understood the meaning nonetheless. Her jaw dropped to the floor in absolute shock.

Sure, Sirius and Marlene had been flirty for ages, but... Lily knew those two like the back of her hand, and an actual, honest-to-goodness date just wasn't their style. They were madly in love, of course, but they were both far too stubborn to admit it. Sirius preferred two-week, meaningless flings-at this point in their late sixth year, he had dated nearly every eligible girl at Hogwarts. Marlene had just broken off a serious relationship during the winter holidays, so she had sworn to be boyless for the remainder of her life. Remarkably, her heart was so broken that she had actually kept up with it-despite her normal amount of shameless flirting, Marlene hadn't actually dated anyone for the entire term.

But now…

Lily snapped out of her reverie to slap on a fake smile and congratulate her friend. "Marlene, that's... that's wonderful!"

Marlene beamed and fell back across the bed, the dreamy smile making her eyes gleam. Lily was happy to let her go into happy daydream land and give her some more time to process things, but Marlene shot up from the bed quickly, a serious expression on her face once more. "So you'll do it, then?" Marlene asked.

"I'm sorry, do... Do what?"

"Well, Sirius said that if we were to... go out, there's one condition."

"And what's that?" Lily asked warily.

"It's a double-date," Marlene replied with a perky smile.

"Ahhh. And I'm the victim of this double-date, aren't I?"

"Oh, c'mon, Lils, you aren't the victim of anything. It'll be fun."

Lily shrugged. "Who's the lucky bloke?" she teased. Marlene pinched her lips together, and Lily's concern grew into legitimate worry. "Marlene, who is it?" she chided.

A beat of silence, then another, and then…

"James Potter!"

"Padfoot, are you insane?"

"Prongs, you have been trying to go out with Lily Evans for years! I, the great and illustrious Sirius Black, have finally got you a date with her!"

James stopped stomping up the stairs to the Gryffindor sixth year boys' dorm and whirled around to face his occasionally idiotic best friend. "First of all," he began angrily, "she hasn't agreed yet to your _stupid_ plan. Secondly, if she did, it would probably be only for Marlene's sake and she would be intent on having a miserable time. And third, I'm fairly certain you remember the conversation we had last week about me _giving up. _I'm done with Evans, Padfoot. I've tried and I've tried and I decided literally six days ago that it's just better to be her friend, okay? I'm through with being a creepy stalker! You were there, you know it, so why did you pull this stupid stunt?"

Sirius flipped his hair dramatically, pretending to be deeply affronted by James's insults of his brilliant plan. "I'll have you know, Prongs," he began, "that I have been formulating this plan for weeks. Personally, I think it's worthy of a documentary."

James rolled his eyes and escaped into the dorm, where he immediately lay on the bed facedown and mumbled something that sounded like "ihateyouandimneverleavingthisroomagain".

"Cheer up, Prongsie," Sirius insisted, having followed him in. "Do you still like Lily?" James sat up and glared. "Do you?" Sirius continued, finally convincing James to nod sullenly. "Then the best way to go about this is not to sulk. The best way is to woo her with your dashing good looks and boyish charm."

"Talking about me, are we?" Remus asked as he entered the room and flopped down on his four-poster.

"Prat," Sirius said. "I was actually talking about James trying to win over Evans."

"I thought he gave up," Remus said, confused.

"I did!" James piped up, but Sirius tsked-tsked and ignored him, leaning over into his trunk and pulling out the ugliest tie ever seen in Gryffindor tower.

"Prongs, you and I are going to have the double-date of the century."

**A/N: Hi guys! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! The second chapter will be posted Monday on my good friend Katherine A. Jones's page because we wrote this as a collab. Hop on over to her profile and give it a follow so you can be sure to get every chapter of the story! **


	2. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: First of all, formatting is not exactly great on my computer, so sorry for any weird formatting things! This is the third chapter, and I must say, it was quite difficult following up Katherine's incredibly hilarious Chapter 2. Hope you all enjoyed it, because I know I did! Hop on over and check out her profile (katherineajones) because not only is she fabulous, she's a fabulous writer. And way better at author's notes than me. Here you go! Next chapter will be up on her page on Monday!**

The blush creeping up Lily's cheeks and neck couldn't really be described as a blush; it probably looked more like poison ivy, and it burned like someone had just poured hot soup over her head. They knew. They knew exactly where she was, and they knew that she had overheard the entire conversation. She heard footsteps approaching her. _Oh Godric oh Godric oh Godric oh Godri-_

"Lily?" came Marlene's voice as the blonde peered under the bed, exposing Lily to several critical stares from the opposite side of the room where the Marauders stood.

Lily scooted out from under the bed as quickly as she could and stood up. "I, uh… er, that is to say, I… I…"

She couldn't do it. The shame was too unbearable. Her face was probably redder than her hair, and she could see James and Sirius and even Remus and Peter all fighting to hold in a good laugh at her expense. They would tell the whole school by the next morning. She would have to leave the country just to avoid the pure shame. So she did the only sensible thing, the only thing that could be done really. She bolted for the door, and though Marlene and several of the boys shouted after her, no footsteps followed her down the stairs.

The prospect of the double-date and all conversations surrounding it would have been bad enough without the embarrassment of being caught in the Marauders' room. Fortunately, Lily thudded down the stairs into an empty common room rather than a full one. The light outside had dimmed into complete black in the hours that Lily was forced to wait under James's bed, so the fire was the only thing illuminating the common room. Lily collapsed into the nearest armchair and cried herself to sleep.

The next morning she awoke to-or was it still night? The light seemed to be growing to a dim gray outside, but the common room was still empty, and the clock read something like ten past four. Lily groaned and then looked up at the person attached to the hand that had tapped her on the shoulder and out of her slumber.

It was Marlene, but standing behind her-was that Sirius? No, James. No, it was definitely Sirius. "Lils, you need to get to sleep."

"I _was_ sleeping," Lily whispered groggily.

"In the common room," Sirius grumbled. "Mar, can I please go back to bed?"

"What have you two been doing all this time?" asked Lily, whose brain was finally catching up with the rest of her body.

Marlene turned to glare at Sirius, who had found a sudden interest in his bare feet and the patterns they were drawing in the carpet. "Whatever," the blonde huffed irritably. "I'm going to bed."

"G'night, love," Sirius mumbled, though he only got a death-stare in response before Marlene stomped up the stairs. "So," Sirius said, sitting on the arm of Lily's chair. "Today has certainly been interesting."

"Ugh," Lily groaned. "Can we just pretend it didn't happen?"

"I don't think so," Sirius smirked.

Lily sighed to acknowledge his rightness, because to say the words out loud would be even more mortifying than tonight's incident. "How about until the morning? Let's just pretend for the rest of the night, okay?"

Sirius's smirk grew. "Sure thing, Evans." He paused, thoughtful. "James really fancies you, you know."

"Not after tonight he doesn't." Though Lily was the one who had suggested forgetting the whole thing, she seemed like she couldn't get it off of her mind. Shame was a pesky little bugger.

Sirius's eyes widened incredulously. "Evans," he said after a moment, "for an extremely clever girl, you can be downright thick sometimes." Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "You really think James doesn't like you any more?"

Lily buried her head in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees. "It's complicated."

"How so?"

"You can stop being so smug!" Lily practically shouted, jerking her head up. "I know you're particularly enjoying reveling in my humiliation, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm miserable."

"So am I," Sirius responded immediately and indignantly, his eyes narrowing in defiance.

"Couldn't have guessed it by your smirk," Lily commented.

Sirius leaned down toward her, to where their eyes where only a few inches apart. His grey ones bored into her green ones with the intensity of a lightning strike. "I'm very well versed in the art of masks, love."

He stood up. "James fancies you. If there's anything complicated, it's coming from you." He turned with the dramatic flair that only Sirius Black could achieve and headed up the stairs without another word. Lily, realizing that attempting to get any more sleep would be futile, buried her head in her hands once again.

Little did she know, several other figures were having trouble sleeping upstairs in their dormitories.

James, naturally, was having trouble sleeping because of her. He was torn between wanting to snog Lily and being unable to hold back snickers at her embarrassment. He tried to force himself to think it wasn't funny, because he knew she was probably mortified, but honestly? Lily Evans had spent hours under his bed that afternoon. The situation was at least peculiar, if not hilarious.

Marlene McKinnon was having trouble sleeping because of her argument with Sirius. The double-date was off, and her heart felt like it was splitting right down the middle. But she couldn't cry, because the only person she wanted to cry to was sitting downstairs in the common room.

If she had thought about it enough, Lily probably could have guessed that those two were having trouble sleeping. The one that she would have been surprised about, however, was the one who was biting his fingernails raw in his four poster: Peter Pettigrew, recalling his afternoon's conversation with McGonagall.

"Are you sure you have nothing to tell me, Mr. Pettigrew?"

"N-nothing at all, Professor," Peter stammered out, trembling in his chair.

"So neither you nor Mr. Black nor Mr. Potter are doing anything out of the ordinary on the nights of the full moon?"

"N-no, Professor."

"You're doing nothing to ease the pain of one of your dearest friends?"

"Well, when you put it like that, Professor-"

"Mr. Pettigrew, answer the question please."

Peter took a few short, shallow breaths. "Nothing is going on, Professor McGonagall," he said as calmly as he could.

"I could've sworn... nevermind," Professor McGonagall said. Her eyes looked sad, like she was disappointed. "Have a good evening, Mr. Pettigrew."

Peter practically ran out of the office of his favorite teacher, still shaking with anxiety. She knew more than she was letting on. She had only questioned him to give him a chance to tell the truth before he was ratted out.

She might not know everything, but she knew something. They had been too careless. He'd told them after the last time, but they'd just brushed him off. But he had been right. They had been foolish.

And if Professor McGonagall figured it out, everything would be ruined.


	3. Chapter 5

_Why am I so disappointed? _Lily wondered, staring at the back of James's head as they sat in Transfiguration.

When Marlene had told her that morning that the double-date was off because of her fight with Sirius, Lily had just laughed. It was all the nerves of the night coming out in a bit of delirium, combined with her resolution that she would, to all outsiders, appear to not be embarrassed. She had decided to wake up in the common room that morning and pretend like nothing had happened; after all, ignorance is the best way to get rid of shame that seems to engulf your very bone marrow, right?

But under her deranged cackle, Lily hadn't been able to help the knot that was settling in her stomach. It wasn't nerves, because she was denying those, so what could it be?

At breakfast, James had come downstairs with his messy hair, ruffling it every three seconds, and his tie loose around his neck. He had nonchalantly grabbed an apple and munched on it. He had flipped open the day's _Daily Prophet_ and began reading a story about a Quidditch player who had gone missing. Lily had found herself watching his every move with intensifying interest, and then, when Mary literally had to snap her fingers in front of the redhead's face to get her to stop dripping milk onto the table... it hit her.

She was disappointed that the double-date was off. It was the same sinking sensation that she had felt last night under James's bed when he said he had given up on her. She was confused, but more than that, she was disgusted.

_I refused a bloke for years and now that he doesn't want me anymore, I'm upset about it? I am _not _one of those girls who only enjoys the thrill of the chase... am I?_

These haunting thoughts had followed her through the halls all day, so much so that she had barely noticed the stares and whispers of her classmates. One fourth-year even asked if she could take Lily's place in the double-date, at which Lily barked out a harsh laugh and told her that if she wasn't gone before Lily could say detention, she would be getting it. (Sometimes prefect privileges went perfectly well with a side of moody rampage.)

_What's gotten in to me? _Lily wondered, bewildered, all throughout Transfiguration. She watched James's natural wand movements, his skill, the way his mouse naturally turned into a rat. (The similarity actually made it more difficult because of the details, which frustrated Lily to the point of yanking out her hair.) After class, she bit her lip as James effortlessly packed up his things with his usual suave nature.

Then he tripped.

Right there, in front of her, with his books and quills spilling out of his bag and everything. Lily hesitated, panicking. She would have to step over him to escape, and the only way to do so without being rude would be to help him up. But it would be the first conversation they had since yesterday's eavesdropping incident, and Lily was already feeling generally awkward with all the questions rattling around in her brain, and _oh Godric look at those Quidditch muscles... _Before she knew what she was doing, Lily was offering a hand to help James up. He stared up at her through crooked glasses, and his eyes showed the panic that rarely, if ever, came out of him.

Lily was anticipating a great reveal, a great apology on her part, a reconciliation to rival the later one between Marlene and Sirius... but instead, James quickly grabbed her hand, stood up, mumbled some meaningless words of gratitude, and practically sprinted out of the classroom. All Lily could do was stand there, surprised more by his awkward disappearance than the tears brimming in her eyes.

Marlene, meanwhile, was sprinting through the halls faster than even James. The only person it seemed she could not beat, however, was the very one she was chasing: Sirius Black.

She had been trying to speak to him all day, but he had been giving her the cold shoulder. She was sorry, she really was, but by the time Transfiguration rolled around, she was so cross with him that an apology was the last thing on her mind. Another argument was brewing, and she would _not _let him escape from this one so easily.

So what if she had been a little ridiculous? That was just according to Lily. Marlene didn't think she had been ridiculous in insisting that Sirius didn't laugh at her best friend. What was with him never taking anything seriously anyway? (Pardon the pun.) All he ever wanted to do was flirt shamelessly, but then he would get in these _moods _and insist that Marlene could trust him. But she couldn't, she couldn't she couldn't she couldn't, because he was a downright prat and he laughed at Lily and he would never actually really care.

She couldn't concentrate at all in Transfiguration as she stared at the back of his stupid head two rows in front of her. As soon as class was dismissed, she attempted to approach him, but he got lost in the adolescent frenzy. And so she practically ran through the corridors, shouting at younger students to move and growing even more irritated by the second. Her blonde hair whipped around her face and in her eyes, and finally, she just couldn't take it anymore. She stopped short, causing a brief traffic jam in her wake, and shouted _Levicorpus!, _pointing her wand straight at Sirius.

It must have been her wild emotions giving the spell strength, because it actually worked, even from such a distance. Sirius hung upside down in the corridor by his levitating ankle, looking around madly for the culprit.

"May I speak to you?" Marlene shrieked, nostrils flaring, as she stormed down the hall toward him. When Sirius's eyes landed on her, it looked like he was about to scoff, but then thought better of it. He knew Marlene, and he knew that when she got into a temper, she could be downright murderous.

"Sure thing, Mar," he mumbled as the blonde stopped walking and stood in front of him, tapping her foot. As angry as she was, Marlene had to fight a smile at his insistent use of the nickname. No one else called her that. "Can you let me down please?" She narrowed her eyes and sent him crashing to the floor with a thud. Before Sirius had a chance to gather his wits or his textbooks, she yanked him up by the tie and dragged him into an empty classroom to have a little chat.


	4. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: My account is back! Squeeeeeeee! Thanks again to the just so wonderful Katherine for letting me post chapter 5 on her account, and apologies to everyone for the lateness and general technology issues. But here's chapter 7! The Blackinnon in this one makes it one of my favorites. Hope you enjoy!**

"You heard me," Marlene said. "I was asking if the date could be back on. But right now, I'm having a hard time remembering why." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Mar, you are by far the most complicated bird I have ever had to deal with. And I've dealt with Peter's half-blind owl."

"Ha, ha," Marlene deadpanned.

"You tell me you want to date me, then you act like you'd rather throw me in the lake and let the giant squid have its way with me! You can't blame me for not being able to interpret your mixed signals."

"Oh, like you've been a saint in this relationship," Marlene scoffed.

"Who said anything about a relationship? All I wanted was a date." Sirius regretted the words the instant they were out of his mouth, but he couldn't take them back. The damage was done. And that one hurt.

"Right," Marlene said with less force and bitterness than she had intended. _Right. He's Sirius Black. Don't fool yourself into thinking he's legitimately interested, because he's always got a zinger like that up his sleeve. _"Well," the blonde said, attempting to regain what was left of her composure and her dignity, "if you can't remember why you asked me out, and I can't remember why I agreed to it, then maybe we should just-"

"Marlene McKinnon, please shut up." Marlene's jaw dropped at Sirius's rudeness in cutting her off, but Sirius didn't regret it one bit. The conversation was going down a slippery and dangerous slope ever since his date versus relationship comment, and he had to stop before the train fell completely off the tracks. Sirius stood up and crossed the room toward Marlene.

"Sirius, you can't just go-"

Her words were cut off by lips against hers.

And it was intensity and shock and happiness like nothing she had ever known before.

"We're not going to have to walk out of here holding hands, are we?" Sirius murmured against her lips.

Marlene giggled. "Who said anything about leaving?"

Lily didn't even come down to dinner that night. "The shame is too great, Mary. I can't see James again."

"Lily," Mary started condescendingly, but the redhead flopped down on the bed and covered her ears with her pillow.

"Want us to bring you up some food?" Dorcas asked sympathetically. Lily grunted something from under her pillow and the other two roommates were off. "Where's Marlene, anyway?" Lily heard them say as the door closed.

She was just so frustrated. It was easy to pretend to Marlene that she didn't care about the incident with James last night, but it seemed like everyone else saw right through her mask. Her shame was practically written in big bold letters across her forehead. _Well, _Lily thought, wiping away a stray tear, _at least I'll be able to avoid him for the rest of the day. James never misses a meal. _

But James was missing a meal. "I can't see Evans again. I can't even look at her," he complained up in his dormitory.

"Prongs, you're being ridiculous," Remus insisted. "She was the one doing the stalking or whatever that was. You've done nothing wrong."

"He did run away," Peter piped up from his bed, where he was hurriedly trying to finish a Transfiguration essay.

"Not helping," Remus huffed. Turning his attention back to James, he tried every reasoning and piece of logic he could think of, but the messy-haired boy would not budge. He simply wouldn't eat. "Can I at least bring you up some food?" Remus asked, giving up.

"I'm not hungry," James sulked.

"Fine." Remus threw up his hands and stomped out of the dormitory. "You're being even more of a drama queen than Sirius."

"Where is Sirius, anyway?" Peter asked as he followed Remus out of the room.

James stared up at the ceiling of his four-poster for a while. "You know what?" he said aloud after several moments of hoping someone would show up and beg him to go down to dinner, since he was now feeling quite hungry. "I think I fancy some flying."

And so it was that he headed down the stairs from the boys' dormitory just as a redheaded figure was headed down the stairs from the girls' dormitory, in search of the novel she had left lying around the common room somewhere.

"Lily," James gasped as he saw her.

_Oh, Merlin, _Lily thought. She actually contemplated running back up the stairs and far, far away from James. She was in her pajamas, for crying out loud!

"James" she said, biting her lip.

At this point the conversation became rather awkward, as both would start speaking at the same time, stop and wait for the other person to proceed, and then speak at the same time again. The cycle led to many awkward pauses and incomplete sentences, and Lily was beginning to think that she had never had an interaction more uncomfortable when the door burst open.

And who should be standing there but Marlene McKinnon and Sirius Black.

"Marlene!" Lily exclaimed around the same time James cried, "Padfoot!"

"Where have you been?" they said simultaneously.

Marlene's cheeks reddened, but not before Sirius's whole face turned the color of a tomato. Realization dawned on Lily and James at precisely the same time, and despite all of their current differences, they shared a look that was a mixture of _ew, gross, _and _it's about time. _

But upon a closer look, Marlene's and Sirius's cheeks didn't seem to be glowing of embarrassment. They were both out of breath, neither of them smiling. "It's Snape," Sirius panted. "And Peter and Remus."

"And Mary. They've…" Marlene tried. "They've…" But whatever it was they had done, she seemed to be too horrified to say. "And we…"

James stiffened, terror spreading across his features and making its way even to his hair, which he yanked in frustration. "Where?" he asked.

"Fourth floor, near the Charms room. There's… there's…"

But James didn't need to wait for an explanation. He sprinted out of the room and down the stairs, only stopping to look back when he heard footsteps behind him.

It was Lily, flying down the stairs in baby blue pajama pants. Though James was in a hurry, he stopped in shock as he saw her, but Lily didn't. "Come on," she said as she flew past him. "Mary's down there, too, remember? Now let's go."


	5. Chapter 9

**Author's note: This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but it's here! There was a dangerous chance that it wouldn't come on time what with Blood of Olympus coming out this week... but here it is. I would like to say a huge thank you to Katherine for being so patient and understanding with me when I procrastinate terribly. She always did her part on this story and worked so hard to make it something worth reading. She's been nothing but awesome to work with and it's been an absolute privilege! **

**Also, thank you to every single one of our lovely readers and reviewers. It really has been quite fun.**

Lily woke up the next morning with an astonishing clarity. It seemed to her roommates that all of the events of the past thirty-six hours had vanished completely from her mind. She hummed to herself, actually hummed, as she brushed her teeth and got dressed.

She had a plan.

A plan that involved pumpkin juice, serious wand coordination, and one James Potter.

"Lils," Marlene asked, slightly worried, "what's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Gorgeous day, though, isn't it?"

"I suppose, if you don't consider the fact that a few of our best friends were sent to the Hospital Wing last night."

Lily grimaced slightly, then started humming as she ran her brush up and down her dark red waves. "Still, though. We've got a new day ahead of us, don't we? Might as well make the best of it."

"Sure…" Dorcas said uncertainly.

Lily bounced up and headed toward the door. "I'm going down to breakfast."

"Isn't it a bit early?" Marlene called with increasing concern.

But Lily either didn't hear her or was too spacey to process what she was saying, because her red hair disappeared down the stairs with the tap-tap of her shoes.

The crowd of students just in front of the entrance to the Great Hall was absolutely ridiculous. "Can't a bloke get some breakfast?!" Sirius yelled after a few minutes of standing around with James.

James, however, could not have been less focused on the meal. He was more focused on the whispers all around him. "It's about time," a fourth-year said somewhere to his left. All around, that seemed to be the theme: finally, finally, finally, something was happening. In and of itself, that wouldn't have been too concerning. What was much, much more concerning was the names being whispered: James and Lily.

He screamed something about being Quidditch captain and please excuse me to get through the crowd, but once the students recognized that the great James Potter had arrived, they parted for him faster than the Red Sea for Moses. When James finally saw what was waiting for him in the Great Hall, he stopped in his tracks and his jaw hit the floor.

Lily was standing there on the Gryffindor table, holding her wand with intense concentration at what seemed to be a mass amount of liquid floating in the air. James had to tilt his head a little to make out the formation of the liquid, but when he did, his stomach felt as though he had ingested all of it.

Lily Evans had spelled it out in pumpkin juice: "James Potter, will you go out with me?"

James's grin grew out of control of its own volition, and he couldn't resist shouting out to her from his place of honor in the Great Hall doorways. "Oi, Evans!" She turned around and grinned at him, and it was something like genuine excitement mixed with a challenge. James began walking toward her.

"Bit thirsty this morning, are you?" he asked. She just lifted her eyebrows like she knew exactly what was going on and exactly what she wanted. "I'd be careful. The Giant Squid might get jealous." At this, Lily rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"James Potter, you are a prat if I ever met one."

"But one you want to go out with?" James asked with an eyebrow raise doubly more powerful.

"Obviously." Lily smirked. James decided then that he definitely did not mind his trademark expression appearing on her beautiful face. At this point, he had finished his crossing of the room. Everyone else still hung back, anxious to watch the scene unfold, as Lily continued pointing her wand upward to the pumpkin juice skywriting. "Well?" she asked, and James smirked back at her as he attempted to jump right up next to her on the table.

His ankle hit the edge and he tripped with a tremendous thud, ending up half-sprawled on the table and the seats. Lily barely suppressed her laughter as James stood up, blushing, with stains now all over his robes. "Smooth," she teased.

"Oh, you know you loved it," James teased back, and Lily took a deep breath.

"Absolutely."

James leaned forward and kissed her as the couple were splattered with pumpkin juice, Lily's wavering concentration at last shifting to other things. The entire Great Hall erupted in cheers, and neither Lily nor James so much as blushed. It goes without saying that breakfast, even classes the rest of the day, were anything but normal. The morning meal turned into a wild party that even McGonagall had trouble containing. (After all, she wanted to celebrate, too, as she had won on several of the bets placed among faculty regarding James and Lily. Their getting together before the end of the year had seemed like a bit of the gamble at the time, but now she was glad for it.) People Lily didn't even know were congratulating her in the hallways, some even going so far as to shake her hand enthusiastically. Later on, Sirius sneaked in some desserts from the kitchens and threw a party in the Gryffindor common room that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning.

And when it was all over, you could find Lily and James sitting next to each other in front of the fire, holding hands and discussing a certain double date.


End file.
